


Switch Your Feelings On

by braingunk



Series: Gotham Academy AU [2]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Crushes, First Meetings, Gen, Holding Hands, Human Disaster Jeremiah Valeska, Jerome is a little shit, M/M, MLM WLW solidarity, Oneshot, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Private School, Skipping Class, Soft Jeremiah Valeska, pre-spray jeremiah valeska
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 16:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18369854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braingunk/pseuds/braingunk
Summary: “I’m guessing from the look on your face that either Jerome did something stupid, or you’ve got boy trouble,” Ecco said. Jeremiah made a distressed noise, burying his face in his hands. She whistled appreciatively. “Wow. Both? You’ve had a busy morning.”Of course Jeremiah knows who Bruce Wayne is. Not only is he the richest person at the Academy, but he's also the only person Jerome picks on as relentlessly as his brother. Their paths don't actually cross until they're both covered in glue, craft feathers and bright green glitter, courtesy of Jerome. (Oneshot, can be read without the rest of the series)





	Switch Your Feelings On

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I should mention I always imagined this AU still takes place in the same nebulous past as the show. Also, this fic is set before Jerome got kicked out of school.
> 
> The title is from the song 'Goodbye Mr A' because it's on my playlist for this AU lol

Jeremiah Valeska was the kind of person who liked to fade into the background. He would happily have kept his head down, not spoken to any of his classmates, graduated and got the hell out of Gotham for a while. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck with Jerome for a twin. An  _ identical _ twin. Half the school was terrified of him by default, and the other wanted him to introduce them to his (apparently much cooler) brother. Either way, it was not a boost to his ego. 

There was one exception to this, though. Bruce Wayne, boy billionaire, loner kid, and the one person Jerome seemed to delight in picking on as much as him. They were both aware of each other, of course, although they hadn’t actually met until Jerome had somehow managed to rally them both into the courtyard and cover them both in glue, neon craft feathers and bright green glitter. Jeremiah had closed his eyes for a long moment, swallowing his anger as he listened to his brother’s manic laughter.

“What can I say? The two of you both needed to lighten up a little!” Jerome crowed. Jeremiah opened his eyes slowly, his glasses blurred with glue and glitter. “Smile!” Something bright flashed and Jeremiah heard Wayne sigh next to him, already resigned to the fact that Jerome would probably have plastered the corridor with photos of them  looking like feathery disco balls by tomorrow.

“Valeska!” Jeremiah nearly jumped out of his skin as Ms. Kean’s voice rang out from a window overhead. No matter how many times he heard a teacher yell at his brother like that, he didn’t think he’d ever get over the initial panic that he’d done something wrong. “What the hell are you doing?”

“It’s part of my art project Ma’am!” Jerome called back gleefully.

“Nice try, but you told me yesterday you’re going to paint clown faces on pictures of dead animals,” she shot back.

“Shoot, guess I’ve been busted then,” he muttered, turning back to inspect his handy work. Wayne glowered at him, but the effect was completely ruined by the green sparkles all over his hair. Jerome laughed, and swiveled to face his brother. “See ya later bro! You too, Brucie!” He called, and then shot off, visible only as a blur of ginger hair through Jeremiah’s glasses.

“Are you alright?” Wayne asked him quietly, placing a hand on the sticky shoulder of his jumper. He’d have to get an entire new uniform now, Jeremiah mused unhappily. “We should speak to Alfr- Mr. Pennyworth. He’s got the keys to the store cupboard. Come on, I’ll lead the way.” Wayne’s hand slid down from his shoulder to his hand, and Jeremiah jumped as a warm palm pressed against his. Wayne murmured an apology, withdrawing his hand.

“No, it’s fine,” Jeremiah said fumbling to pull off his glasses with one hand and to grab Wayne’s again with the other. It was sticky and kind of gross, but what the hell. His pride had already been decimated today, and he wanted the comfort. God knows he wouldn’t hear the end of it when he got home.

When they find Pennyworth, he doesn’t look surprised at the state of them.

“Jerome again, Master Bruce?” he asked dryly. 

“Yes,” Bruce replied shortly. Jeremiah got the impression that they’d had many similar conversations before. “May we get some clothes from the store cupboard?” Alfred turned to Jeremiah, inspecting him thoughtfully. His gaze travelled downwards, looking at their connected hands. Jeremiah squeezed Bruce’s hand just a little tighter. Alfred’s eyebrows raise imperceptibly.

“And you must be the other Valeska, then,” Alfred said. 

“This is Jeremiah,” Bruce supplied. Alfred studied him for a moment longer, assessing him carefully before he let his face relax.

“Right then, we’d best get you both a change of clothes.” 

Bruce didn’t pull his hand away from Jeremiah’s until they entered the store cupboard. It was dim and smelt slightly musty, but Jeremiah couldn’t bring himself to care. The glue had dried now, and it pulled weirdly on his skin as he rummaged through the clothes in search of something that would fit. He just wanted to shower and go home. 

“May I ask, how often does your brother pull pranks like these on you?” Bruce asked quietly. There was a bright pink feather halfway down his cheek and an earnest expression in his dark eyes. Jeremiah licked his lips nervously, then laughed, shaking his head as he turned back to the lumpy orange sweater in his hands. 

“A couple times a month, I guess. I’m used to it by now - he’s always done it.” He meant for it to sound careless, but his voice fell flat. Bruce gently pressed a hand on his arm and smiled at him in a way that wasn’t pitying, but just understanding. 

“Well, if you ever need anything, please let me know,” Bruce said. 

“Thank you,” Jeremiah replied, his cheeks feeling suspiciously warm. 

After they both had showers they walked back up to school from the gym. Bruce’s hair had gone curly, falling gently across his forehead and Jesus Christ, Jeremiah was  _ screwed _ . As they walked, they spoke a little about their plans after school - Bruce would take over Wayne Industries, and Jeremiah’s planned to study architecture or engineering - before they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Jeremiah thought about Bruce’s hand in his earlier, and silently stuffed his hands into his pockets so he couldn’t make more of a fool of himself.

They parted ways at the door to Bruce’s next class, as Jeremiah had said it was on the way to his own. This was a complete lie, but it had been a shitty morning and the corners of Bruce’s mouth had crept into a smile as they’d walked in companionable silence. And besides, he wasn’t planning on going to class anymore anyway. He didn’t want to face a room full of whispers and giggles at his expense (news always seemed to travel so fast at Gotham Academy, it never ceased to surprise him). So he made his way down to the dance studio.

Ecco, the new dance teacher, had taken him under his wing during her last year at school before she had graduated, even letting him sleep on her couch when he’d gotten into particularly bad fights with Jerome. They’d kept in contact for the two years she’d been away, and now she’d come back to complete her training.  

“Ecco, help,” he said as he pushed the door open. She looked up from the papers strewn over the floor and grinned. 

“I’m guessing from the look on your face that either Jerome did something stupid, or you’ve got boy trouble,” she said. Jeremiah made a distressed noise, burying his face in his hands. She whistled appreciatively. “Wow. Both? You’ve had a busy morning.” 

“Shut up,” he shot back weakly. “As if you weren’t a mess when Oswald’s TA showed up.”

“Leave Ivy out of this,” she said with mock outrage. He sighed, dropping into the plastic chair beside her. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket, and begun picking at the glue covering the frames. It’s not like they had the money lying around for another pair. Ecco’s grin sobered as she gently rest a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, are you okay Jeremiah?” 

“Yeah, I’m just… Overwhelmed, I guess.” Ecco nodded in understanding as she gathered up her paperwork into a neat pile. 

“Wanna crash at my house tonight, J? We can stop by your place to pick up some clothes on the way,” she asks. Jeremiah nodded appreciatively. Ecco grinned. “Plus, this gives me a chance to tell me  _ all about _ whoever got you so flustered. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that.” 

 

-

 

The next day, as expected, the corridor was littered with photographs of Bruce and Jeremiah, covered in glue, feathers, glitter and grime. Bruce studied one of the pictures by his locker intently.

“You know, it doesn’t really look so bad in black and white,” Selina said over his shoulder. Bruce spun around. She didn’t look up. “You can’t tell that the feathers are neon coloured or make out the glitter. It’s not so…”

“Ridiculous?” Bruce finished dryly. Selina shrugged, but she smiled as she did it.

The snickers of his classmates followed Bruce around all day. Ms. Thompkins took him aside after Biology and quietly asked him if everything was alright. When Bruce told her he’s fine, nothing more than a little hurt pride, she didn’t seem to believe him. But he held his head high, reminding himself that he can’t let Jerome win. 

Besides, he’d dealt with far worse.

Jeremiah on the other hand, wished he could hide in the dance studio forever. Ecco kicked him out during lunchtime, with instructions to eat and go to at least  _ one _ class today. So he queued up for lunch, getting a pitying look from the woman who dumps a ball of mashed potato on his plate. He felt his last shred of pride fall away. Was there anyone in the building who didn’t know about his public embarrassment? 

He was so focused on not making eye contact with anyone that he didn’t even hear Bruce call his name until he felt a hand press on his shoulder and almost dropped his tray.

“I’m so sorry,” Bruce said, and Jeremiah realised it was the first time he’d seen Bruce flustered. “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to sit with me and my friends. If you aren’t busy, I mean.” Jeremiah glanced over Bruce’s shoulder and saw two girls and a boy watching him intently. He could feel something flutter nervously in his stomach.Bruce’s hair isn’t curly today, but immaculately straight and gelled into place. Not that it matters. He found his head nodding automatically before he really knew what he was doing. 

He followed Bruce back to the table and sat down. Bruce introduced Silver and Alex, and then Selina. Whereas the other two avoided meeting his eyes for longer than a moment, Selina watched him carefully, like she was taking catalogue of him. Sizing him up. He remembers Alfred doing a similar thing yesterday, and wondered if Bruce’s friends were always so distrustful. Or maybe it was just him.

Selina abruptly turned away, apparently finished in her assessment, and cut into Alex and Silver’s conversation with a dry comment. Bruce laughed. Jeremiah decided he didn’t like Selina very much.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still sad about Alex so he makes an appearance here. Hope you enjoyed this! It was fun to write, I had fun exploring a whole bunch of different characters here. Ecco is hard to write tho. So is past tense, so sorry if that got a little funky haha
> 
> Let me know what you thought with a comment if you really wanna brighten my day :)


End file.
